Wednesday, August 27, 2008

My Guy

My current job in the Army is PSYOP Team Chief (MOS 37F30). This means I run a 3-man tactical team of PSYOP soldiers who will be attached to an infantry battalion in Iraq. My team is called TPT-1234: Tactical PSYOP Team 4, Detachment 1230. "Detachment" = "Platoon" in the PSYOP world. Higher command assigned me my first team member this week: Private First Class James McGarry, 19 years old, Missouri native.

The young Private McGarry comes with a shocking list of life-experience for someone so tender in age. Home-schooled and the son of Mission to the World workers, he has backpacked through Bulgaria, Bolivia, and Puerto Rico on various medical outreach missions. A tradition of military service runs through his family, and he dreams of one day joining Army Special Forces (aka the Green Berets). Most importantly for me, though, Private McGarry consistently shows intelligence and good judgement, coupled with a good-humored, guileless nature. I hope he stays on my team for the duration.